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A Bit More Little Barrie

August 12, 2012

Virgil Howe, Barrie Cadogan, Lewis Wharton: photo courtesy of Greengab PR

My piece on Little Barrie in today's Sunday Times Culture section had to be cut to fit a smaller space than originally planned. Here's the full-length version: ... more »

posted: 12/08/2012 | comments »

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In Search of the Radar Pioneers of WW2

May 23, 2012

A departure from normal service hereabouts, but a very worthwhile one, I hope you'll agree. I've just received an email from the Association of Royal Air Force Fighter Control Officers, who are asking folks with websites to publish the following text. It ought to be fairly self-explanatory. I don't imagine either of my regular readers were involved in running the Dowding System during the early 1940s (and, in the process, developing the basis of the Quick Reaction Alert system still in use to defend Britain from airborne attack today), but maybe someone you know knows someone who has a relative who might have been. My success rate with getting pieces on this site to "go viral" isn't quite at TMZ levels, but every little helps. And if anyone wants to re-post this on other sites, please go right ahead - the text below is copyright-free, as are the images, and I'm perfectly happy for this bit to get copied elsewhere too. Just this once, mind. Anyway, here's the appeal:... more »

posted: 23/05/2012 | comments »

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Snowbound

February 6, 2012

Some snow, yesterday

Apologies for the disruption. The inclement weather is to blame. Well, that and a surfeit of work which had to get done. Actually, the weather's nothing to do with it, but everyone else uses it as an excuse so I might as well. Normal service will be resumed shortly. ... more »

posted: 06/02/2012 | comments »

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In Praise of William Elliott Whitmore

February 3, 2012

For no particular reason, today's post is an old interview with William Elliott Whitmore, one of my favourite songwriters. It was written for the "new bands" section of Mojo and published around the time of the release of Whitmore's third LP, The Song of the Blackbird (sleeve above) in 2006. His blog is minimal to the point of abstraction - he's published ten posts in a shade under three years, and the longest is 70 words, but, just like his records, the pared-down basics he chooses to share are worth their weight in gold. If you don't know his stuff, and it sounds like it might be up your street, please give him a try. His kind of honest, open and unadulterated excellence is a rare kind of treasure. ... more »

posted: 03/02/2012 | comments »

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No News Today

February 2, 2012

The viewing gallery of the aquarium in Atlanta, September 14, 2010

I've not really got anything I have a burning desire to write about today, but here's an old picture. ... more »

posted: 02/02/2012 | comments »

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Today's Big News

February 1, 2012

A Gazelle flown by the Empire Test Pilots School, photographed by Jez B on September 29, 2011: used under Creative Commons license; click on the photo for larger versions from Jez's Flickr stream

The Harry Redknapp trial maintains its status as a gift that keeps giving, Anonymous have hacked the BNP (sorta), and - at least, at the time of writing - Newcastle are beating Blackburn. But the biggest news of the day, for me at least, is that I flew a helicopter. ... more »

posted: 01/02/2012 | comments »